Hollywood icon Steve McQueen's family loses its cool over actor car model
Great Escapism
Cowboy, soldier, cop, Old-West lawman, race car driver, high-stakes gambler – Steve McQueen wasn't the first actor to inhabit these iconic masculine roles, but did any other celebrity perform all of them as well, for quite so long?
The McQueen persona set the template for 1960s masculine cool, and there was, of course, money to be made from that. By the early 1970s, McQueen was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood; in the years following his death in 1980, his family and estate have worked assiduously to cultivate his image and carefully curate product endorsements.
Love a Stranger?
In a lawsuit filed in California Superior Court, Chadwick McQueen, Steve's son, along with a trust administered for his granddaughter, Molly, claim to have been "shocked" to learn that luxury sports car manufacturer Ferrari was marketing a special edition car it called "The McQueen." Specifically, the suit alleges that Ferrari marketed and sold this model to "key customers" as a marked-up, limited edition vehicle alongside other special edition cars as part of its 70th anniversary in 2017.
The marketing, the suit claims, featured McQueen's photo and a monograph describing the classic Ferrari model he once owned.
McQueen was the star of several car and racing movies, the most famous of which was, of course, Bullitt. Fast, dangerous, skillful driving was synonymous with his image, and remains so to this day. So it's no surprise that his estate has endorsed, branded and otherwise marketed a number of cars, motorcycles and related gear, including products from Porsche, Metisse and Triumph. But not Ferrari.
According to the suit, Ferrari's alleged grab for the movie star's reflected glory was particularly galling. The suit claims that back in 2011, Chadwick McQueen visited the Ferrari factory and met with the company's president, expressing interest in creating a McQueen-branded Ferrari model, "provided he and his family would maintain approval rights and involvement in the project," as they customarily do when partnering with manufacturers. Chadwick McQueen also claims to have asked Ferrari to cease using the McQueen name and photographs of the icon in its branding and advertising. Ferrari allegedly responded by cheekily renaming the car "The Actor" – and in at least one advertisement, continued to reference Steve McQueen's own Ferrari.
The Takeaway
Filed in July 2018, the lawsuit accuses Ferrari of trademark infringement, false endorsement and unfair competition, and seeks to enjoin further production of models that are marketed through Steve McQueen's name or likeness. We'll see if excising McQueen's image and simply noting his historical ownership of Ferraris is enough to mitigate his son's complaint. Ferrari has yet to respond to the claim.
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